Monday, March 29, 2010

I've never really thought of myself as a hoarder. I love cleaning things out and getting rid of crap. I don't like to keep something unless I think I'm going to want it later.

As I've been making my preparations to move, I've been trying to really clean things out and unclutter my life. Of course, anyone who knows me at all knows that there's very little clutter in my home. Everything has a place, and I know exactly where to find everything.

However, I've apparently been a bit of a pack rat when it comes to paper products. I don't think I had a clue until tonight.

I have two walk-in closets in my bedroom. (Cry for me; it's terrible.) (That's another good example of why there should be a sarcasm font.) One of them has my clothes, shoes, purses and accessories. It's on the list to be cleaned out, but tonight I wanted to tackle the other one.

I thought that I had been keeping it pretty organized, but I've apparently just been tossing a ton of stuff in there for the past couple of years. I also must have put a bunch of stuff in there intentionally a few years ago when I moved in, and then I promptly forgot all about it.

I have a filing system for receipts and bank statements and investment statements and the statements that I've marked showing when I paid my bills. It's all very organized. But I hadn't cleaned it out in ages. Needless to say, I have a GOB of stuff that I have to shred.

I also apparently keep a lot of random papers thinking they might be important later. And they're not. I filled an entire trash bag with old papers and folders and miscellaneous crap that I have no idea why I ever want to keep it.

And the magazines. Oh, the magazines. I've been doing a good job lately of stacking them up and then taking them to the recycle bin. I had apparently forgotten that for a while I just kept them. I stacked them in bins in my closet. I think I thought I might want to pull them out and reference them again later (because THAT happens.)

So I literally have POUNDS of paper products that I'm getting rid of tonight. Don't worry all you tree huggers... it's all going to the recycle bins except for the stuff I have to shred. But I think the shredding company recycles it after they shred it all. I'm not sure.

When I finished, I kind of didn't feel very productive because I hadn't actually packed anything... but I did get a ton cleaned out, so that was a huge accomplishment. It feels good to know that I'm minimizing my life a bit more as I pack and get ready to move.

Attacking my other closet is next on the list, but I think it'll have to wait until the weekend. I want to go through every last item in there. If I love it, I'll keep it. If I'm not sure, I'm putting it on and making a decision. If I don't love it when I put it on, it's going in the yard sale pile (which is growing more every day). I'm not taking anything with me that I know I'm not going to wear. As I've gotten older, I've bought a lot of new clothes that I really like. Why hold on to old crap I never wear anymore, even if it is still in good shape? If I'm not going to wear it, might as well let someone else have it that will.

It feels good to be sorting through everything and cleaning out stuff. I encourage you all to try it sometime. It's amazing to find what you once thought you needed to keep that you no longer care about...

When you're through with your place, feel free to come do mine. I've been meaning to do some major decluttering, but I don't think it's enough to do a garage sale by ourselves. Too bad we can't do a combined sale...

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